It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere

Question

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms,  an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

(A) an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

(B) an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

(C) an ophthalmology department, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

(D) to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

(E) an ophthalmology department and a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Zarrolou · Accepted Answer

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms,  an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Structure of the sentence:
The city is home to two separate things: 
  -the largest hospital for falcons  
  -the largest veterinary clinic  
Since those two thing express a similar attribute of the city, they must be parallel:

"Riyadh (...) is home  to  the largest hospital for falcons, (a place...description), and  to  the largest veterinary clinic, (a place...description)"

In B E they are not parallel, eliminate them. D uses an wrong structure:
 
D  to an  ophthalmology department, and  to  a pox area  and the largest veterinary clinic  for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

This sentence uses parallelism to describe the hospital and not to put on the same level the hospital and the clinic: wrong structure.

A and B are left

A an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
B an ophthalmology department,   to   a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

B says that the city is home to the largest hospital, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic. By using "to a pox area", B places it at the same level as the hospital and the clinic, so the clause "a pox area" is no more part of description of the hospital itself.

Hope it's clear.

Use parallelism to put on the same level things that express a similar concept.( a parallel idea)
Example:
1) I lived in Miami, a city in Florida, and in Boston.  From this sentence you get that I lived in Miami and in Boston.
2) I lived in Miami, in Florida and in Boston.  From this sentence you get that I lived in Miami, in Boston AND in Florida(unspecified city).

pqhai · Answer

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly,  is home to the largest hospital for falcons , a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms,  an ophthalmology department, and a pox area,  and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals , a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

o an ophthalmology department, and a pox area,  and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals , a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
 CORRECT.  Parallel structure:  is home to X,....and to Y.............. 
 
o  an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic  for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
WRONG. The components are not parallel.
 
o an ophthalmology department,  to a pox area,  and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
WRONG. Parallel: X, Y and to Z <== Wrong.
 
o   to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic  for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
WRONG. Parallel problem.
 
o an ophthalmology department and a pox area,  and the largest veterinary clinic  for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
WRONG. Need "to" to make a parallel structure: is home to X,.....and to Y......

Hope it helps.

Bluelagoon · Answer

Wow this sentence exemplifies parallelism construction.

The core parallel elements are :

It is no surprise that Riyadh is home

A )  to to the   largest hospital for falcons  ,a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms 
   an ophthalmology department  , and 
   a pox area   
 B) and  to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for

A is the answer. All the other answers have parallelism Error.

fozzzy · Answer

Lets breakdown the sentence

It is no surprise
that Riyadh, the Saudi capital
where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly,
is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in 1)operating rooms, 2)an ophthalmology department, and 3)a pox area,
and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

The important part is to realize there are 2 lists and shouldn't mix them up

1,2 and 3 are different elements and the portion highlighted in red are the main elements of the sentence!

The main sentence talks about it is home to the largest hospital and is home to the largest vet clinic for desert animals

There is a description of the first element ( highlighted in bold black color) of the second element describes that falcons all over the world are treated in operating rooms, opthalmology dept and a pox area.

once you understand the meaning and structure this sentence is a cake walk

igotthis · Answer

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

1 an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
2 an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
3 an ophthalmology department, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
4 to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
5 an ophthalmology department and a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

This focuses on Parallelism. B E they are not parallel, eliminate them. D uses an wrong structure
 Let's look at why A is right: 
.... .is home to the  largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, an ophthalmology department, and a pox area,  and to the  largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Success2015 · Answer

looks like the sentence is conveying that the falcons are treated in 3 places - 
"a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in  1)operating rooms, 2)an ophthalmology department, and 3)a pox area "

Is this the reason why these 3 should not be made parallel to "to the world's largest hospital" and "to the largest veterinary clinic".
Could somebody clarify this.

mvictor · Answer

this question mainly tests parallelism.

It is no surprise that Riyadh, 
- noun modifier (noun modified Riyadh) - the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly,

(cont. of the first clause) is home to the largest hospital for falcons, 
(noun+noun modifier correctly refers to the largest hospital) a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in 
list:
a) operating rooms, 
b) an ophthalmology department, 
c) and a pox area,

cont. of the main clause - and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, 
-noun+noun modifier correctly modifies veterinary clinic for desert mammals) a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

A looks good, no errors, modifiers are correctly used. lists are properly connected. the meaning is clear.

B. an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
this one makes the largest veterinary clinic a part of the list. this is incorrect. Riyadh is home to the largest hospital for falcons and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals. this is a correct list. B is out.

C. an ophthalmology department, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
"to" why is it need it here? list is not properly connected. thus C is incorrect.

D. to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
list is not properly connected. now R is home to:
largest hospital for falcons
ophthalmology department
pox area
largest veterinary clinic.

moreover, even the new list is not properly connected.
D is out.

E. an ophthalmology department and a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for
the second and third entities of the list are not properly connected. 
E is out.

sytabish · Answer

Hi,
 
 I cannot figure out the difference between A & E.
A. home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms,  an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Two lists present:
(i) to the largest hospital for falcons and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals
(ii) in operating rooms,an ophthalmology department, and a pox area.

E. home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, an ophthalmology department and a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
 
 Two lists are:

(i) to the largest hospital for falcons and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals.
(ii) in operating rooms, an ophthalmology department and a pox area.

To me, both the lists in A and E seem to be parallel. Can anyone help with clarification ?

Thanks!

daagh · Answer

The two lists in this topic are: 
A. ( Pertaining to the birds)— Home to 1. The largest hospital 2. An ophthalmology Dept. and 3. A pox area. – the third item in the list is properly separated by a comma + ‘and’ 
B. (pertaining o the desert animals) 
Home to 1. The largest clinic; here no more item is in the list. However, to be in tandem with the forts list, the preposition ‘it’ has to be present. 
The presence of the preposition ‘to’ in the second list is what differentiates A from E.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

First things first. We need to understand the structure of the sentence by cutting the fluff. 
Riyadh is home to two things: 
-the largest hospital for falcons 
-the largest veterinary clinic 
Both these things express a similar attribute, hence they have to be parallel. 
Thus we need a to before "the largest veterinary clinic"

Eliminate B and E 
Option C brings "pox area" to the same level as largest hospital and falcon. This is incorrect. 
the pox area is a description of the hospital.

Option D brings the ophthalmology department and the pox area in the same level by making them parallel. 
This is again incorrect as the ophthalmology department and the pox area are the descriptions of the hospital

Correct Option: A

devbond · Answer

1 an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
2 an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
3 an ophthalmology department, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
4 to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
5 an ophthalmology department and a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Its is imperative that we undertstand the meaning and structure of the entire paragraph here.

Riyadh is home   to the largest hospital for falcons  +modifiers for the hospital +  and to the largest vetenirary clinic for the clinic

Once you understand the above structure this question becomes very easy to crack, there is no other answer choice to confuse the test taker.

cledgard · Answer

Riyadh is home to the largest hospital for falcons +modifiers for the hospital + and to the largest vetenirary clinic for the clinic…

I see this parallelism; however I do not see the parallelism in the modifiers; no one explains how the modifiers are parallel.

Is home to the largest hospital for falcons:  (three elements) 
- a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, 
- an ophthalmology department, 
- and a pox area,
- 
 Not parallel in meaning: the first describes “hospital”, the other two do not.

or modifiers of rooms  (two elements)

Is home to the largest hospital for falcons. a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, 
- an ophthalmology department, 
- and a pox area,

department and area are not rooms .

or places where they are treated: (three elements)

Is home to the largest hospital for falcons. a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in:
- operating rooms, 
- an ophthalmology department, 
- and a pox area,

This could be a correct parallelism ; However, for the sake of clarity, all the elements of the list should include the preposition  “in” .

… is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated   in  operating rooms,  in  an ophthalmology department, and  in  a pox area , and to the largest …

Even this option is confusing ; are the falcons treated in all three places, or in only one? If it is treated in only one of these places, then the coordinator should be   or  .

… is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms, in an ophthalmology department,  or  in a pox area, and to the largest …

LakerFan24 · Answer

Imperative to use the "slash and burn" here.

Sentence before underline should read:  It is no surprise that Riyadh , (the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly),  is home to the world's largest hospital for falcons , (a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms) ...

What you should be thinking is: is this a list? and if so, what kind of list?
The list begins with: "is home  to  the world's largest hospital for falcons," ... since the "veterinary clinic for desert mammals" is the last item of the list, it should also contain "to" right before it. 
- Elim B, D, E

Between A & C, 
- Notice " ophthalmology department " and " pox area "  modify the hospital , whereas  the veterinary clinic  is modified by "a place where camels ...". A/C  C  tries to make them all parallel to fit 1 list of items, but understand we have 2 separate lists of items: 1) related to the hospital, 2) related to the veterinary clinic

Correct Ans: A

warriorguy · Answer

It is no surprise that   Riyadh  ,   the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly  ,   is   home

to the  largest hospital for falcons  ,   a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms  ,   an ophthalmology department, and a pox area  , 
and 
to the  largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals ,  a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for .  -->  Modifier

mvictor · Answer

the trick here is to understand the meaning of the question. Riyadh is the Saudi Capital. in Riyadh, people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly. Riyadh is home to the largest hospital for falcons. In these hospitals, falcons from all over the world are treated. How/where they are treated? in operating rooms, in an ophthalmology department, and in a pox area. Riyadh is also home to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals. In clinics for mammals, camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. We have 2 lists: 1. Riyadh is home to the largest hospital for falcons and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals - elements are parallel to each other. an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary - the elements of the list are properly connected. The sentence seems to be correct as is. o an ophthalmology department, a pox area , and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. elements of the first list are not parallel. 2nd list is not correctly presented as well. o an ophthalmology department, to a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. 2nd list is not presented correctly. o to an ophthalmology department, and to a pox area and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals , a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. elements of the first list are not parallel. o an ophthalmology department and a pox area , and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals , a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. elements of the first list are not parallel. 2nd list is not correctly presented as well. this question requires to have a good eye for details

arunavamunshi1988 · Answer

Hi, I have a doubt here.. Initially I narrowed down to A and E and then chose E. Mostly all discussions are saying option E has a parallelism issue. But I did not find any. As per my analysis, the option E is structured like this -

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is home to -

1. the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated -
 in operating rooms
 an ophthalmology department 
 and a pox area

AND

2. the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Please let me know in the above structure do we really require to place 'to' before the 2nd point as it can be made common in the first place?

mihir0710 · Answer

The fight is between A and B rest are out straight away...

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is home to the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in  operating rooms, an ophthalmology department, and a pox area , and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

So …Riyadh is home to X and Y 
Where X is largest hospital for falcons
And Y is largest Vet clinic
Also notice the red part …it’s a separate list of items …so should NOT be mixed with the main parallel structure of “home to X and Y”
So option A is correct.

B)  an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals,  where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
But in this option… both the links are mixed which nonsensically says that (read the yellow part below)
Riyadh is home to the largest hospital for falcons,  a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in  operating rooms, an ophthalmology department, a pox area, and the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for

gmatexam439 · Answer

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere birds of prey and ride camels regularly, is  home to  the largest hospital for falcons, a place where falcons from all over the world are treated in operating rooms,  an ophthalmology department, and a pox area, and to the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

1 an ophthalmology department,  and a pox area ,  and to  the largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for. - Correct 
 2 an ophthalmology department,  a pox area ,  and the  largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
 3 an ophthalmology department,  to a pox  area,  and to the largest  veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
 4 to an ophthalmology department,  and to a  pox area  and the  largest veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.
 5 an ophthalmology department  and a pox  area,  and the largest  veterinary clinic for desert mammals, a place where camels and other desert species are expertly cared for.

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

Solution: A

Explanation: This long sentence requires that you properly assess its different components by selectively and properly slashing and burning. After looking carefully, you should find that the basic structure is this: “Riyadh is home to this institution….a place where blah blah blah is true…and to this institution, a place where blah blah blah is true.” Only (A) has the proper structure. In (B) “the largest veterinary clinic” is not part of the first series and needs to be separated with “and to….”. In (C) Riyadh is not home to all of these things in a series, as it makes no sense (it is home to a random ophthalmology department and pox area? No – those are part of the hospital). It is home to a hospital for falcons, which contains several parts, and to a hospital for veterinary medicine. (D) perpetuates the problem in (C), making it even worse because the incorrect series is not even parallel. (E) lacks the necessary “and to the largest” to show that the last part is separate. Answer is (A).

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

It is no surprise that Riyadh, the Saudi capital where people revere

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